Officials: Jail delay will push crime, cost upward

Published 7:00 pm, Tuesday, February 21, 2006

County Administrator Controller David Benda says the longer county jail construction is delayed, the more it's going to cost. Prosecuting Attorney Michael Carpenter says if it takes too much longer, Midland could lose the grip it has on crime.

At risk, moneywise, could be a $700,000-plus state grant that already has been extended multiple times, most recently until September. Benda doesn't know if another extension will be granted, but if the jail bonding issue is brought to a vote - petitioners are working to gather 6,200 signatures to put it on a ballot - an election might not take place until the August primaries, crunching the timeline by which grant money must be spent. If the matter instead were decided at a special election, ballots and election officials' wages would cost about $70,000.

In the meantime, Carpenter says Midland needs more room to house inmates. The county's existing jail has been continually stretched for space, and has been boarding local inmates to other counties at a cost of about $50,000 a month.

"We cannot afford to delay this situation further," Carpenter said. One of the reasons is that law enforcement has instilled a belief system in Midland that it will catch, convict and punish those breaking the law. Without space for punishment, "It will be seen as (an empty) threat," Carpenter said.

Because Midland's primary crimes are not violent ones, but instead are drug- or property-related, inmates tend to stay in the county jail instead of being shipped to prison.

In 2005, there were 4,189 people booked at the jail, compared with 3,324 in 2004 and 3,375 in 2003.

The county has plans to build a new, 250-bed jail off Bay City Road, near the new civic arena, and has plans to issue up to $25 million in bonds to complete the project. The 45-day referendum period on the bonds began Feb. 11.

Benda said that for each month the project sits in wait, construction costs will climb. Building materials costs are rising at a rate of about 6 percent a year.

"For every month delay, that's another $100,000 you can add to your bill," he said.